Device for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm

ABSTRACT

A device serves as a wiper blade for motor vehicle windows to a wiper arm, which is guided on the wiper blade, is movable between turning point positions, and is provided with a device element ( 24 ), with whose device element ( 24 ). The elongated wiper blade ( 10 ), which can be pressed again the window with a wiper strip ( 22 ), is pivotably connected via a connection piece ( 20 ) belonging to the wiper blade, wherein one pivot peg ( 58  and  146,  respectively) disposed on the connection piece protrudes from each long side of the wiper blade, the common longitudinal axis of the two pivot pegs is located transversely to the length of the wiper blade in a plane spaced apart from the window, and each of the pivot pegs engages a gearing recess, associated with it, of the connecting element, which gearing recess forms the pivoting means of the wiper arm, it is proposed that at least one pivot peg ( 58  and  146,  respectively) is movable at least in some portions by at least its peg length toward the other pivot peg counter to spring force and can be introduced into the gearing recess ( 48  and  138,  respectively) associated with it.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention is based on a device for connecting a wiper blade to awiper arm. In a known device of this type (Published, Unexamined GermanPatent Application DE-OS 23 44 876), the pivot pegs toward the blade,once the wiper blade has been installed on the wiper arm, engagereceiving holes in the arm. Nothing is said there about the assemblyprocess. Possibly the two pegs are formed by the ends of a bolt thatprotrude from the block of the holder; the bolt is inserted after theconnection parts have been put together, so that the ends of the boltsare located in the holes of the arm. Such a connection requires majoreffort in assembly, both the first time the wiper blade is mounted onthe wiper arm and when it later becomes necessary to replace a wiperblade.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the device of the invention the pivot peg can be moved counter tospring force all the way into the inside of the connection piece, makingit possible to position the wiper blade relative to the wiper arm in away suitable for assembly. Once the pivot pegs have been released, theyreturn with the aid of the spring force back to their outset positions,in the process of which they enter the gearing recesses of theconnecting element belonging to the wiper arm. For removing the wiperblade from the wiper arm, it suffices to compress the two pivot pegsagain counter to spring force far enough that they escape from theirgearing recesses. Special loose elements, such as separate pivot bolts,and the attendant assembly steps can thus be omitted.

In a refinement of the concept of the invention, each pivot peg islongitudinally divided; that one peg part of the at least one pivot pegis solidly joined to the connection piece; that the other peg part ofthe at least one pivot peg is movable counter to spring force by atleast the amount of the effective peg length toward the other pivot peg,and each pivot peg part solidly joined to the connection piece can beintroduced, via a mounting channel that is open at the periphery anddischarges into the gearing recess associated with this pivot peg part,and the width of the mounting channel is adapted to the width of therespective pivot peg part. As a result, connecting the wiper blade tothe wiper arm and removing the wiper blade from the wiper arm aresimplified further, because the pivot peg part solidly joined to theconnection piece already brings about good positioning of the wiperblade on the wiper arm, so that the movable pivot peg part assumes itsoperating position in its gearing recess practically automatically andunder the influence of the spring force.

With a view to the operational reliability of the wiper blade on thewiper arm, it is advantageous if when the wiper arm is in the operatingposition, the dividing seams existing between the first pivot peg partsand the second pivot peg parts are disposed upright toward the window.

A connection device that is especially easy to install is obtained ifthe dividing seams are disposed outside the longitudinal axis of thepivot peg; the pivot peg parts having the larger cross section aresolidly joined to the connection piece, and the pivot peg parts havingthe smaller cross section are disposed in at least approximatelyresiliently yielding fashion in the direction of the longitudinal axesof the pegs, because the larger pivot peg parts bring about betterprepositioning of the wiper blade relative to the wiper arm.

With a view to manipulating the connecting device, advantageously, theconnection piece is made from a spring—elastic plastic; and the springmeans are disposed on the end, which—when the wiper blade is connectedto the wiper arm—is remote from the wiper arm, of a base part thatbelongs to the connection piece and has the pivot peg parts having thelarger cross section.

In a further feature of the invention, the spring means for each of thesmaller pivot peg parts are formed each by one hairpinlike extension ofthe connection piece; that the two extensions are located in a commonplane spaced apart from and approximately parallel to the window; andthe inner hairpin legs, adjacent to one another, of the two extensionsare joined solidly, by their ends remote from the respective apex regionof the hairpin, to the end of the base part of the connection piece; andthe pivot peg parts having the smaller cross section are each disposedon one of the two outer legs of the hairpin of the two extensions, whichlegs are freely movable counter to spring force. The outer hairpin legsof the extensions joined integrally with the connection piece thus alsocomprise a spring-elastic plastic and form handles for temporarilydeflecting the smaller pivot peg parts by the dimension of the effectivepeg length. Their disposition on the exposed sides of the connectionpiece assures accessibility for the sake of easy installation.

In order for the wiper blade to be guided well on the wiper arm in thewiping motion that occurs transversely to the length of the wiper blade,the device element of the wiper arm has a U-shaped cross section, thebase of which U, when the wiper blade has been connected, is located onthe side of the connection piece remote from the window, and the twolegs of the device element fit tightly over the two long sides of theconnection piece of the wiper blade, and each leg of the U has onegearing recess for one pivot peg.

An improvement in operating reliability is obtained if the mountingchannel of each gearing recess is open toward the window, because thewiper blade can be removed from the wiper arm only when the wiper armhas been lifted away from the window.

The operating safety is still further enhanced in that when the wiperblade has been connected, the walls of the gearing recess that are eachremote from the wiper arm fit in hooklike fashion under the pivot pegs.

An especially low, compact structural height of the connection device isobtained in that the base of the U of the device element is providedwith a widened portion of L-shaped cross section, one leg of which L isformed by a continuation of the base of the U, while other leg of the Lis disposed spaced apart from and parallel to the first leg of the U ofthe device element.

Further advantageous refinements and features of the invention aredisclosed in the ensuing description of exemplary embodiments shown inthe accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Shown in the drawing are:

FIG. 1, a side view of a wiper blade connected to a wiper arm;

FIG. 2, a side view of the device element of the connection device ofthe wiper arm, shown enlarged;

FIG. 3, a front view of the device element of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4, the device element of FIG. 2 in a view from below;

FIG. 5, a side view of the connection piece, toward the wiper blade, ofthe connection device, shown enlarged;

FIG. 6, a plan view on the connection piece of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7, a section through the connection piece taken along the lineVII—VII of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8, a side view of the free end of the wiper arm, that is, the endprovided with the device element, shown enlarged;

FIG. 9, an enlarged side view of the connection piece with the wiperblade represented by dot-dashed lines, and with the arrangement of FIG.8, in the operating position;

FIG. 10, a plan view on the arrangement of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11, a basic illustration of another embodiment of the connectiondevice of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A wiper blade 10 shown in FIG. 1 has a spring-elastic support element 12elongated in bandlike fashion, on the top side of which, pointing awayfrom the window to be wiped, a connection piece 20 toward the wiperblade and belonging to a connection device 14 is disposed; with the aidof the connection piece, the wiper blade 10 can be separably joined to adriven wiper arm 16 guided on the body of a motor vehicle. To that end,the wiper arm, on its free end 18, is provided with a device element 24that also belongs to the connection device 14 or in other words to thewiper arm. On the underside of the support element 12, facing toward thewindow, an elongated, rubber-elastic wiper strip 22 is disposed parallelto the longitudinal axis. The wiper arm 16 and thus also the deviceelement 24 on the arm end 18, which element cooperates with the wiperblade 10 and is solidly joined to the free end 18 of the connectiondevice 14, is urged in the direction of the arrow 26 toward the windowto be wiped, whose surface to be wiped is represented in FIG. 1 by adot-dashed line 28. Since the dot-dashed line 28 is meant to representthe greatest curvature of the window surface, it is clearly apparentthat the curvature of the wiper blade 10, resting with its two ends onthe window, is greater than the maximum window curvature (FIG. 1). Underthe contact pressure (arrow 26), the wiper blade presses over its fulllength with its wiper lip 30 against the window surface 26. In theprocess, a tension builds up in the bandlike, spring-elastic supportelement 12 that assures for proper contact of the wiper strip 22 orwiper lip 30, over its entire length, against the window of the motorvehicle. Because the window, which as a rule is spherically curved, isnot a segment of a spherical surface, the wiper blade 10 must be capableof constantly adapting during its wiping motion to the current locationof the window surface 28 relative to the wiper arm 16. The connectiondevice 14 is therefore simultaneously embodied as a pivot connectionbetween the wiper blade and the wiper arm.

The special embodiment of the connection device 14 and of the two deviceparts 20 and 24 belonging to it will now be described in further detail.The device element 24 (FIGS. 2-4) that can be solidly connected to thewiper arm 16 has a substantially U-shaped cross section (FIG. 3) andthus a platelike base 32 of the U, and this base is adjoined by twospaced-apart legs 34 and 36 of the U. The base 32 of the U of the deviceelement 24 is provided with a lateral widened portion 38 of L-shapedcross section. One leg 40 of the L is a continuation of the base 32 ofthe U. At a distance from the leg 34 of the U, the leg 40 of the Ladjoins the other leg 42 of the L, thus forming a receiving channel 44for the free end 18 of the wiper arm 16. Each of the legs 34 and 36 ofthe U extends past the base 32 of the U with an extended portion 46.These extended portions are curved in hooklike fashion, and their innercontours each form bearing recesses 48, whose significance will beaddressed in further detail hereinafter.

The embodiment of the other part, toward the wiper blade, of theconnection device 14 will now be explained in conjunction with FIGS.5-7. This device part 20, which can also be called a connection piece,is solidly joined to the elongated wiper blade in the middle region ofthe wiper blade. The connection piece 20 likewise has a substantiallyU-shaped cross section. Its base 50 of the U is platelike in embodiment(FIG. 6), and it is provided on the long sides with the two legs 52 and54 of the U, which are spaced apart from one another. This creates aguide conduit 56 for receiving the wiper strip 22, provided with thesupport element 12, which together with the connection piece 20 form thewiper blade 10. One pivot peg 58 is disposed on each of the outsides,remote from one another, of the legs 52 and 54 of the U, in the regionof one end of the base 50 of the U. As FIG. 5 in particular shows, thetwo pivot pegs 58 are divided in a plane that is parallel to the pegaxis and perpendicular to the window. The result is accordingly one mainpeg part 60 and one supplementary peg part 62 each. The two main pegparts 60 are disposed solidly on their respective legs 52 and 54 of theU. On the face end 64, adjacent the main peg parts 60, of the platelikebase 50 of the U, there are two U-shaped or hairpinlike extensions 66,68 (FIG. 6), which are joined together via a middle piece 70. Thehairpin legs 72, 74, 76, 78 are disposed in a common plane, which whenthe wiper blade is in operation is spaced apart from and approximatelyparallel to the window to be wiped. The apex regions 80 of theextensions 66, 68 face away from the base 50 of the U of the connectionpiece. While the two hairpin legs 74 and 76 adjacent to one another aresolidly joined to the base 50 of the U via the middle piece 70. The twohairpin legs 72 and 78 facing away from one another are freely movablerelative to the base 50 of the U. On their outsides, they are eachprovided with the pivot peg supplemental part 62 of the pivot pegs 58,which together with the main peg parts 60 disposed solidly on the longsides of the connection piece 20 produce the closed, circular peg crosssection. This statement naturally leaves the dividing seam 82, which ispresent between the peg parts 60, 62 belonging to one another, out ofconsideration.

Mounting of the wiper blade 10 on the wiper arm 16 or on the deviceelement 24 belonging to the wiper arm and solidly joined to it will nowbe explained in conjunction with FIGS. 8-10. These figures are alsohelpful in explaining the structure of the two device elements 20 and 24of the connection device 14, because they correspond substantially toFIGS. 2, 5 and 6. FIG. 8 shows that the inner contours of the bearingrecesses 48 correspond to the walls of a bearing bore, which is opentoward the window 85 to be wiped (FIG. 1) via a mounting channel 84.FIG. 8 also shows that the width 86 of the mounting channel 84 is lessthan the diameter of the bearing bore. From FIGS. 9 and 10, it can beseen that the two pivot pegs 58 have a common longitudinal axis 88; thatis, the two pivot pegs are aligned with one another. Finally, it isclearly apparent from FIG. 9 that the two main peg parts 60 solidlyjoined to the legs 34 and 36 of the U of the connection piece 20 have alarger cross section than the two supplementary peg parts 62, which areseated on the outsides facing away from one another of the two outerhairpin legs 72 and 78. The dividing seam 82 between the two peg parts60 and 62 that supplement one another is placed such that a width 90 ofthe main peg parts 60 results that is adapted to the width 86 of themounting channels 84 in such a way that the main peg parts 60, withoutthe supplementary peg parts 62, can pass through the mounting channels84.

For connecting the wiper blade 10, 20 to the wiper arm 16, 24, first theouter hairpin legs 72 and 74 are urged in the direction of the twoarrows 92, so that together with their supplementary peg parts 62 theydeflect and approximately reach their position shown in dot-dashed linesin FIG. 10. It is entirely possible for the inner hairpin legs 74, 76 tobe deflected toward one another as well. If the deflection of eachsupplementary peg part 62 is at least as great as the load-bearing peglength 94 (FIG. 10) that is operative in the gearing recesses, then itis possible for the wiper blade to be connected to the wiper arm 16, 24(FIG. 8) in the direction of the assembly arrow 96 (FIG. 9). In theprocess, the two main peg parts 60 easily enter their gearing recesses48 through their mounting channels 84 that are open toward the window85. After that, the load acting in the direction of the arrows 92 (FIG.10) is lifted, so that the hairpin legs 72 and 78—and optionally thelegs 74 and 76 as well—resume their outset positions. Now the twosupplementary peg parts 62 likewise engage the gearing recesses 48,which form pivot means of the wiper arm, so that the operating positionof the connection device 14 shown in dot-dashed lines in FIG. 9—whichcorresponds to the detail marked IX in FIG. 1—in which position thewiper blade 10 is held in an operationally reliable way, since the pivotpegs 58 are engaged from behind, in the manner of an undercut, by thehooklike lengthened portions 46 of the legs 34, 36 of the U. The hairpinlegs 72-78 thus form spring means, because the connection piece 20, withits two extensions 66, 68 joined integrally to it, is produced from aspring-elastic plastic. In this operating position of the wiper blade 10that is now attained on the wiper arm 16, the base 32 of the U of thedevice element 20 is located on the side of the connection piece 20 awayfrom the window, and its two legs 34, 36 of the U guidingly fit over thetwo long sides, provided with the pivot pegs 58, of the connectionpieces 20 of the wiper blade, without causing any impairment in thependulum motion of the wiper blade relative to the wiper arm in thejoints 48, 58. To release the wiper blade 10 from the wiper arm 16, onceagain it suffices to urge the two hairpin legs 72 and 78 in thedirection of the two arrows 92, until the two supplementary peg parts 62resume their position shown in dot-dashed lines in FIG. 10. After that,the wiper blade can easily be released from the wiper arm counter to thedirectional arrow 96. This above-described embodiment of the inventionis especially attractive from a practical standpoint and easy tomanipulate.

Another embodiment, shown in FIG. 11, especially illustrates theprinciple of the connection device of the invention. Once again, thewiper arm 116 has a device element 124 on its free end that is close inits construction to the device element 24 and that likewise has a base132 of a U and two spaced-apart, parallel legs 136 of the U. Each of thetwo legs 136 is provided—in a departure from the version of FIGS. 2 and8 with a bearing bore 138 closed all the way around, and the axes of thebores are aligned with one another. In its middle portion, the wiperblade 110 is provided with a blocklike connection piece 120, which has atransverse bore 140. This transverse bore 140 is narrowed at its twoorifices. Two mushroom-shaped components 142 are disposed in thetransverse bore 140, with the caps 144 of the mushrooms located adjacentone another and the two bases 146 of the mushrooms protruding throughthe narrowest points of the transverse bore 140 and forming pivot pegs,whose diameter is adapted to the diameter of the bearing bores 138. Ahelical compression spring 148 is disposed in prestressed fashion in thetransverse bore 140 between the two caps 144 of the mushroom, so thatthe pivot pegs 146 assume the positions shown in FIG. 11. In order toconnect the wiper blade 110, 120 to the wiper arm 116, 124, the twopivot pegs 146 must be urged in the direction of the two arrows 150 insuch a way that counter to the prestressing force of the helicalcompression spring 148, they are moved toward one another, by at leastthe amount of the effective peg length 152. After that, the wiper bladecan be introduced with its blocklike connection piece 120 between thelegs 136 of the U of the device element 124, until the commonlongitudinal axis of the two pivot pegs 146 is aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the two bearing bores 138. If the load in thedirection of the two arrows 150 is then eliminated, the prestressedhelical compression spring 148 presses the two pivot pegs 146 into theirbearing bores 138 of the wiper arm, so that a simple, effective pivotconnection between the wiper blade and the wiper arm 116 is achieved.

It is a common feature of both exemplary embodiments that each pivot peg62 and 146 is movable at least in some portions (supplementary peg part62) counter to spring force by at least the amount of the effective peglength 94 and 152, respectively, toward the other pivot peg and can beintroduced into the gearing recess 48 and 138, respectively, associatedwith it.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for connecting an elongated wiper bladefor motor vehicle windows to a wiper arm guided on the wiper blade, ismovable between turning point positions, and is provided with a deviceelement, with whose device element (24) the elongated wiper blade (10)pressable against the window with a wiper strip (22), is pivotablyconnected via a connection piece (20) belonging to the wiper blade,wherein one pivot peg (58, 146) disposed on the connection pieceprotrudes from each long side of the wiper blade, a common longitudinalaxis of the two pivot pegs is located transversely to a length of thewiper blade in a plane spaced apart from the window, and each of thepivot pegs engages a gearing recess, associated with it, of the deviceelement, which gearing recess forms pivoting means of the wiper arm,characterized in that at least one pivot peg is movable at least in someportions by at least its peg length toward the other pivot peg counterto spring force and can be introduced into the gearing recess (48, 138)associated with it.
 2. The device of claim 1, that the at least onepivot peg (58) is longitudinally divided; that one peg part (60) of theat least one pivot peg is solidly joined to the connection piece (20);that the other peg part (62) of the at least one pivot peg is movablecounter to spring force by at least an amount of an effective peg length(94) toward the other pivot peg; and that the pivot peg part (60)solidly joined to the connection piece can be introduced, via a mountingchannel (84) that is open and discharges into the gearing recess (48)associated with this pivot peg part, and a width (86) of the mountingchannel is adapted to a width (90) of that pivot peg part (60).
 3. Thedevice of claim 2, characterized in that when the wiper arm (16) is inan operating position, a dividing seam (82) existing between the firstpivot peg part (60) and the second pivot peg part (62) is disposedupright toward the window.
 4. The device of one of claim 2,characterized in that a dividing seam (82) is disposed between the pegparts and lies outside a longitudinal axis (88) of the pivot peg; thatthe pivot peg part (60) having a larger cross section is solidlyjoinedto the connection piece (20), and the pivot peg part (62) having asmaller cross section is disposed in at least approximately resilientlyyielding fashion in a direction of the longitudinal axes (88) of thepegs.
 5. The device of claim 4, characterized in that the connectionpiece (20) is made from a spring-elastic plastic; and that spring means(66, 68) are disposed on an end (64), which when the wiper blade isconnected to the wiper arm is remote from the wiper arm (16), of a basepart that belongs to the connection piece (20) and has the pivot pegparts (60) having the larger cross section.
 6. The device of claim 5,characterized in that the spring means for each of the smaller pivot pegparts (62) are formed each by one hairpin shaped extension (60, 68) ofthe connection piece (20); that two extensions (60, 68) are located in acommon plane spaced apart from and approximately parallel to the window;that inner hairpin legs (74, 76), adjacent to one another, of the twoextensions (60, 68) are joined solidly, by their ends remote fromrespective apex region (80) of the hairpin, to an end of the base partof the connection piece; and that the pivot peg parts (62) having thesmaller cross section are each disposed on one of two outer legs (72,78) of the hairpin of the two extensions, which legs are freely movablecounter to spring force.
 7. The device of claim 2, characterized in thatthe device element (24) of the wiper (16) has a U-shaped cross section,a base (32) of which U, when the wiper blade has been connected, islocated on a side of the connection piece (20) remote from the window;that two legs (34, 36) of the device element (24) fit tightly over twolong sides of the connection piece (20) of the wiper blade; and thateach leg of the U has one gearing recess (48) for one pivot peg (58). 8.The device of claim 7, characterized in that a mounting channel (84) ofeach gearing recess (48) is open toward the window.
 9. The device ofclaim 8, characterized in that when the wiper blade (10) has beenconnected, walls of the gearing recess that are each remote from thewiper arm (16) fit in hook fashion under the pivot pegs (58).
 10. Thedevice of claim 7, characterized in that the base of the U of the deviceelement (24) is provided with a widened portion (38) of L-shaped crosssection, one leg (40) of which L is formed by a continuation of the base(32) of the U, while the other leg (42) of the L is disposed spacedapart from and parallel to the first leg (34) of the U of the deviceelement (24).